


Guardian

by noxiousSanctity



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Child trauma, Child! Shiro, Clones, Death of many clothes, Family Feels, Fanart, Gen, Implied Hunk/Lance, Kuro Zine Submission, Ryou - Freeform, With Extra parts, anxieties, survival of one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 04:09:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14608977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noxiousSanctity/pseuds/noxiousSanctity
Summary: “Kuro, are you there?!?” His head snapped up at the sound of Keith’s voice, urgent and worried. “You have to get out. right now. The scanners show no other life form, are you injured?” Kuro looked back down at the boy- the body- in his arms. “Say something!” Keith’s voice cracked.





	Guardian

**Author's Note:**

> THE BIG 50 FOR ALL THE FICS I'VE EVER WRITTEN!!! 
> 
> I just want to say thank you to everyone who's been with me on this huge journey of writing, exploring and becoming someone that makes narratives come to life. I appreciate every single one of you for being part of this adventure, and I hope that one day you will all be with me when I publish my first book! Thank you so, so much for being there with me! 
> 
> This fanfiction actually comes with FANART Made by Madame Cofi! She's a wonderful artist, and you can find the link to her tumblr under the photo! 
> 
> ENJOY!!!

            _“Kuro, Come in.”_ The words of the black paladin echoed in Kuro’s earpiece, as if the winding hallways of the seemingly empty galra cruiser was filled with his own voice as he dashed down it. _“Come in, Kuro. We need to know if you’re making any progress on tracking down the laboratory that the map pidge decoded showed. There might be some of the ore from the ship left in there.”_

            “I’m working on it.” Kuro didn’t mean to growl back his response, but for a strange reason, he was on edge. Something about this ship didn’t… seem right. Sure, the paladins and the princess were leading the fight at the front of the ship, but still… why was this part of the cruiser so empty? Why would they not protect something as precious as the core of Voltron? It just… it didn’t make sense to him. Even though he had spent plenty of time in the captivity of the Galran empire, he couldn’t quite boast about his knowledge on their ship tactics. He knew how to fight, and how to win, but he couldn’t say _why_ something so valuable would be left unattended even at the time. No escape pods had even _left_ the ship, and he knew that if they had, the lions would have immediately retrieved them or someone would have said something. Nothing. There was no real sign of anyone anywhere.

            And that was what worried him.

            The smallest paladin’s voice- _Pidge,_ he corrects himself- suddenly makes itself known in his ear _. “Kuro, you’re going to want to take a left at the upcoming hallway, and then after that it should be straight ahead. I’m not sure what to expect until you get in there, and then I can tell you if there’s anybody in there with your new suit. If I detect any lifeforms, I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”_

            “Ten-four.” Doing as instructed, he took a sharp left and ran forward as fast as he could. He didn’t have a guaranteed time window, so he knew that booking it would be his only option. It still kind of blew him away that they had accepted him purely on the concept of Shiro backing him up. They had been ready to eject them into space, and to be perfectly honest, he didn’t blame them. If a clone of him showed up and wanted to be peaceful, he probably wouldn’t have been able to accept that very well at all. Lance and Hunk were the first to at least hesitantly step towards him, the blue paladin looking him up and down before shrugging and extending his hand. A human gesture of peace. He had taken it and shook with a strange sense of relief he wasn’t used to feeling. And after that it was several missions and a long amount of time for the rest of them to come around, particularly Keith. It sat uneasily in his heart that the Red paladin was so wary of him, but it was understandable. Sans the yellow eyes, the sharpness of the nails on his prosthetic, and his fangs, he looked _exactly_ like Shiro. He may have the memories of Keith’s Shiro, but he wasn’t the original. Again, something that he couldn’t blame Keith for. So he had eventually made a name for _himself_ , rather than simply being Shiro’s clone. Kuro. A good name, meaning Black in Shiro’s native language. It gave him a strange source of relief as he had something to define himself as. To be Shiro’s opposite. To be different from him.

            White and Black.

            He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost didn’t notice that he was closing in on the door that Pidge was talking about. It wasn’t a large door, the magenta hue of the lights surrounding him making it seem more imposing that it actually was. Not a moment was wasted as he ignited his arm and sliced through the metal before kicking it as hard as he could, it flying backwards into a darkened space. “Pidge?” He called cautiously into the coms, peering around ever so slightly. It was too dark for him to make anything much out, except that there were several pillars of.. some sort of liquid inside of them, and there were things inside of them. Were the galra trying to grow plant resources? Why were they shaped so… oddly? Were these droids? No matter how hard he squinted, he still couldn’t seem to make out anything really defining about them, so he blindly groped around the room for a light switch. “Pidge, come in. I can’t make anything out.” His hand bumped against something that he made out as a light box, and he let out a breath of relief, smiling crookedly. “Wait, I think I found a portable light. Tell me when you can get the overheads in this room on.”

            He pulled at the metal box, easily tugging it open and making him relax just that little bit. His arm could light up a small amount, though not nearly as bright as Shiro’s. So, when he pulled out the galran equivalent of a ‘flash light,’ he charged it with the energy from his prosthetic. A bright white light flooded the room, and he couldn’t help but wince that slight amount as his eyes adjusted to the stark contrast. Even though it took him a few moments to really understand what he was looking at, when he realized what it was, the flashlight dropped from his hand and clattered to the floor, rolling to the side of the nearest clone.

            _Clone._

            In each and every one of the pillars of liquid was… it was him. Not him. Shiro. There were _so many_ of them. Him? Shiro? Technically, he was the clone. So, they were… him? The lights flashed on and there was a voice in his ear, but the white noise and dizziness was overwhelming him, and he hadn’t realized he had stumbled backwards until he hit the ground, breath shaky and full of _terror_. They all looked so _different_ from each other, too. One had long hair, one was part of a species he didn’t recognize. One was completely _galra._ Even their stages of life were varied, more than a few rotting where they floated in their liquid prisons. The voice grew from one to two, and then three and four. They grew louder and louder and _louder_ but Kuro couldn’t bring himself to listen. He shoved himself to his feet, breath shaking with each inhale as he numbly tried to find the exit, so in shock he smacked right into another pillar, but when he looked at _this_ one, it was the most different of them all.

            It was a child.

            _“KURO!”_ Shiro’s voice suddenly exploded through his head, and it took a moment for him to realize that the scream that responded was his own as he slammed his fist into the glass, shattering the tube and releasing a torrent of sickly smelling liquid. The boy (oh god oh god it’s a _child_ _it’s a fucking_ _child_ ) slumped and the connection to his feeder snapped, leaving him falling out of the hole as well. The speed at which Kuro scrambled to get him was almost comical, were it not for the way that he hyperventilated at the sight of the small frail body of himself, of a child. His eyes were closed, and he wore the rags of the others around him, and he tried not to panic even more but _fuck_ his face was wet with hot sticky tears and he was losing his _fucking mind_ as he tried to grapple and check for a heartbeat-

            “Kuro, are you there?!?” His head snapped up at the sound of Keith’s voice, urgent and worried. “You have to get out. _right now_. The scanners show no other life form, are you injured?” Kuro looked back down at the boy- the _body-_ in his arms. “Say something!” Keith’s voice cracked.

            “No.” His voice came out hoarse, in such a hushed whisper that he wasn’t sure that he could be heard. He felt his body moving without his permission, his arm relighting and charging up with something that he never knew that it could do before this, and as he slammed his hand into the chest of the small child beneath him, a burst of energy pulsed from his hand.

            _No._

            The child’s eyes snapped open almost immediately, body spasming with the shock as he came back to life. He coughed, he wheezed and choked but he was _alive_ and Kuro immediately was scooping him up off the ground and holding him close, tensing and trying not to stop breathing as the youngest clone scrabbled at something to hold onto on Kuro’s chest. Every time that Kuro looked down, the clone’s eyes were wide and terrified as they stared back at him, silver and alarmed. _Alive._

            “We’re on our way.” Kuro roughly spoke into his earpiece, and Lance’s confused voice echoed back.

            “We?”

* * *

 

            They named him Ryou. That is, after Kuro barely managed to escape the ship with a boy in his arms that shook every single person present to their core. Kuro was an absolute mess as he cried out for a cryopod, the probably preteen going limp in his arms the longer it took to get him there. Shiro had never seen the clone like this, so visibly distressed and shaken by something that they’d already had suspicions of. Even when the clone stabilized, Kuro never left the pod. Instead he sat next to, across from, or sometimes even leaned on it with his head in his hands, breathing slow but heavy with distress. Eventually it got to a point where Shiro gently stepped into the room, sighing when the clone didn’t even flinch at the sound of his appearance. “We went over the camera feed that pidge downloaded.” His voice was quiet. Kuro didn’t move. “We’re so sorry you had to see that.”

            “It isn’t your fault.” Kuro mumbled hoarsely. “It wasn’t obvious what it was until it was too late.”

            Shiro made a dissatisfied noise, but didn’t push the point. “We’re all eager to see him up and about, but we need to talk about what we’re going to _do_ with him. We already have two of us. There can’t be a third.”

            “I know.” Kuro murmured into his palms. “I know that we can’t… but… I just… I don’t know.” He raised his head, staring at his claws, his metal and bone, inadvertently at himself. “I just wish that I could have… saved them. There were so _many_ of them. So many, Shiro. There were _halls_ of them. And I-” He choked on a sob. “And I could only save one. God, I can’t even imagine the way that you felt when you met me.”

            Shiro paused, looking concerned at the implied self-depreciation in Kuro’s words. “When I saw you, it was alarming for sure, but I can’t tell you that it took long to be okay with it.” Kuro’s eyes lifted at that, and Shiro shrugged. “Like I told Pidge. I spent a year captive in space. I’m more relieved it was something like this rather than… I don’t know, a bunch of my crew running around. And you’re not a bad thing, Kuro.” He smiled at the disbelieving look on Kuro’s face. “You saved a life. That’s _only_ good.”

            Kuro’s face crumbled a little bit, and he opened his mouth to reply, but the pod made a noise, and the speed in which he snapped his head around had Shiro audibly wincing. He made a move to stand up, but by the time that Ryou was falling out, Shiro had already caught him. The new clone shivered and gripped at Shiro’s prosthetic, but when he felt no tips of the claws, he shifted, opening his eyes. He looked almost shocked for a moment before crying out in fear, shoving away from the original, who looked just as shocked as Kuro felt. The youngest one looked around wildly, breathing rapid and fear-fueled until bright silver eyes rested on him, and almost immediately he was rushed and clung to like a large Koala, grappling at his hands and pressing against the claws, as if checking to see if he was the man who saved him.

_Oh_ , Kuro dimly realized as he let the child press as tightly against him as he could. _He thinks Shiro is one of the dead clones._ That thought made his stomach clench so tightly he was instantly picking up the smaller clone, who did not seem to mind at all, as he simply clung even tighter to him, hiding his face in his neck. He peeked over at Shiro, who only seemed to watch them in curiousity. Hands were all over Kuro, scrabbling over his uniform and his hair and his face and his shoulders until they finally settled on Kuro’s shoulder, clinging to him as tightly as he could while he shivered and shook in Kuro’s arms. Kuro’s throat felt incredibly _dry,_ but he shook his anxiety away as he slowly began to speak. “Hey, kid.” His voice made the boy look up slightly, peering at him from underneath the fringe, eyes red rimmed from tears he must have shed in Kuro’s shoulder. “Hey, you’re gonna be okay. You’re safe now.” Silver eyes darted over to Shiro, and Kuro looked over at the original in question, who seemed to only watch them with fondness. “He’s our original. He won’t hurt you. I promise. Can you wave to him? He just wants to be our friend.”

            Shiro made the initial wave, stance unguarded and eyes soft. Kuro could tell that he felt more than a little unsettled being in the gaze of himself as a child, but with all the scars and pain from space. The memories seemed to be absent in his stare, however. Like they hadn’t been implanted just yet. It took more than a few minutes for Ryou to get comfortable enough to hesitantly raise his hand and wave back, but when he did, both Shiro and Kuro relaxed, and the clone squeezed Ryou a little bit in assurance, making him relax against him. Shiro chuckled, and Kuro looked at him with confusion. “Well, it looks like he really likes you.” He smiled. “That’s good.”

            Kuro looked down at the floor, not sure how to respond. So he didn’t.

* * *

 

            Ryou stuck to him like glue. Wherever Kuro went, so did he. He only seemed to listen to him as well, making Kuro feel an even stronger urge to protect and take care of him. Hunk had called this ‘mother hen’ syndrome. He just… really wanted to take care of little Ryou. The one time that they had tried separating the two of them, Ryou nearly passed out from breathing too fast, separation anxiety far worse than Kuro thought it would be. Even when they slept, Ryou was right on top of him, fisting his shirt as he breathed gently through his nose. Kuro didn’t have the heart to tell him to not do it.

_He was just a child._

But eventually, Ryou began opening up. Stopped crying, started watching, and eventually, started smiling. He even began to talk more, where as he originally was incredibly monosyllabic, he eventually began asking questions, asking Pidge about her tech, and even starting to watch Keith train, which the red paladin found more than a bit embarrassing because of the way the 12-year-old would peek his head around the corner and just watch from there before coming in and sitting down. Ryou seemed to like Hunk and Lance the most, who wore the ‘Space Parents’ nickname like a badge of honor. Hunk would make him cookies and all sorts of good food and Lance would tell him about where their species was from. There were metaphorical stars in Ryou’s eyes as Lance told him about where he was from, how big his family was, and something called ‘surfing’. Kuro couldn’t help sometimes but to be drawn in by Lance’s grand tales as well, sitting on the floor next to Ryou and watching Lance as he described Varadero Beach. He almost didn’t realize when Ryou had leaned onto his shoulder and started dozing off as Lance talked about sunsets and the ocean and how soothing and relaxing it was. The blue paladin got a little misty eyed at the thought, and turned to Hunk for comfort, who offered it in spades.

            Kuro watched the two of them, how Hunk would gently rub Lance’s back and hug him close, and slowly mimicked the movements on Ryou. The teenager simply hummed and let himself fall almost completely over to sleep on Kuro’s thigh, making a sense of pride and happiness radiate from Kuro’s sternum. He didn’t realize he looked at peace until the sound of Lance’s phone clicked, signifying a photo being taken. His eyes snapped up, though his body did not move, but Hunk only smiled and showed him the picture of Ryou taking a nap while resting his head on Kuro’s thigh.

            They looked like siblings. Kuro swallowed weakly.

* * *

 

            “The blades will take him in.”

            Shiro’s words doused Kuro in cold water. He stared back at his clone with wide eyes. “What?”

            “He needs a place to stay. He’ll be safe with the blades. Keith will be with them once in a while too.” Shiro was stepping towards him, carefully placing a hand on his shoulder. “I know it’s hard, but you need to let him grow. Let him discover who he is without our influence.”

            Kuro’s shoulders sagged and his head drooped down. “Will I get to visit him?” He asked morosely.

            “Absolutely.” Shiro’s voice was warm. “After all, you’re not the only one who’s gonna miss him.”

* * *

 

            Ryou was dressed in the Marmora uniform, a bag on his shoulder and his eyes wide and bright with excitement. As soon as he saw Kuro, he stepped forward to hug the man as tightly around the waist he could, squeezing a little harder when Kuro repeated the motion. “I know what this means.” Ryou spoke very softly, but warmly as he pulled away to stare at Kuro. “I know that I can’t help much as I am now. But if I go with the Blades, they can help me become heroes and life savers, like you are.” Kuro tried to open his mouth, but Ryou spoke over him. “I promise I don’t think you’re getting rid of me. I know both you and Shiro just want me to be my own person.” Shiro smiled to himself, crossing his arms as Ryou looked back at him. “I want to be able to stand next to the both of you as someone who only looks similar. I want to be me, rather than be a copy of either of you.”

            Kuro could hardly deal with it, laughing weakly. “You’ve been talking to Pidge and Coran, haven’t you?”

            Ryou only smiled. Kuro swept him up in a hug, hiding his own face in Ryou’s own shoulder, a mimic of their first meeting. “You must promise to keep in touch. And you must promise to be safe, and to visit. Do not make me come and get you.”

            Thin arms wrapped around him. “I promise.”

* * *

 

 

            Kuro watched the Blade ship leave from the Castle, exiting through a wormhole and disappearing. A sense of loss was present, but the excitement of who would come back to meet him permeated his senses. Ryou had the chance that Kuro himself didn’t: He didn’t have the memories of the original. He could grow on his own.

            Shiro quietly walked up to him. “You seemed very distressed about Ryou leaving.” He mumbled. “Are you going to be okay?”

            Kuro paused for a moment before sighing, rolling his head to the side. “You know, I think that I’m starting to understand the whole ‘Space Family’ dynamic.” Shiro hummed next to him. “I think… I’m not a parent, per say. That’s Hunk and Lance’s job.”

            “Mm.” Shiro smiled. “They were absolutely a mess when Ryou said goodbye to them.” He looked over at Kuro by the corner of his eye. “What does that make you, then? A Space Brother? Uncle? Space Cousin?”

            Kuro snorted. “No, none of those things. Maybe… a Space Guardian?”

            Shiro looked at him for a little bit before smiling fondly at him, tilting his head before looking back at the window. “Space Guardian, huh?...”

            Kuro smirked, speaking at the same time as Shiro. “That’s got a nice ring to it.”

**Author's Note:**

> My Tumblr & Twitter: NoxiousSanctity


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